How Much Did Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 Sell On The Xbox 360?

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 released simultaneously for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in Japan the week before last. While the game moved 63,675 units on the PS3 in its first week, Media-Create also provided numbers for the Xbox 360 version.

In Japan, it isn’t uncommon to see Xbox 360 game sales be lower than their PS3 counterparts, but those of Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 were pretty low — the 360 build moved just 3,000 units. One could attribute this to the fact that the original Ultimate Ninja Storm didn’t have an Xbox 360 version at all.

Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 debuted higher than its predecessor overall, though, which opened at 44,000 units on the PlayStation 3 back in 2008.

The most epic game released this generation. Im shocked that the Naruto fanbase for the 360 is so small over there. Truly the ones that did not pick it up, truly dont know that which they are missing. They are missing the true essence of gaming. Games of this calibur do not deserve to be missed. Higher PS3 sales is good, hopefully this guarantees a Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 and 4.

I’ve played the demos and, honestly, I just don’t get it. But to each their own.

[The Hunter] Doomrider

Well, it may not be the most epic of the generation (it most certainly isn’t), but it’s a pretty good game. If you played some of the boss battles, I think you would understand why.Or maybe you wouldn’t.

I will say, though, that playing it made me wish for a non-anime fighting game series that uses graphics like this. I’d love to see something that played like Blazblue or Street Fighter, but had this kinetic camera-style and move style.

Aara_Malik_Davoodi

Why would it matter if it’s anime or non-anime? A good game is a good game regardless of the source material, especially with a fighting game because the story doesn’t really matter when you’re kicking people’s asses

Ereek

A good game is a good game regardless of the source material

Well said.

I think some people would argue if the game butchers the source material it might be “bad,” though. This isn’t really as big of deal with something like this compared to say, the upcoming WoT game from Obisidian.

[The Hunter] Doomrider

In this case, I think it’s because Naruto has a really bad reputation. At least that’s the impression I got. I think people associate Naruto with 14 year old immature SASUKE4EVER kids, and judge it based on that.

I mean, I went to the Naruto wikia before the game came out, so I could familiarize myself with the characters, general story and timeline, I played the game, and there’s nothing particularly wrong with the story or characters.

It may have its dumb moments, but it’s shounen, what shounen hasn’t? Anyway, just my thoughts on the matter.

Well, I also mentioned that I wanted it to control more like a Street Fighter-type game, with quarter circle movements and no jump button, instead of something like Power Stone, which is what this reminds me of.

Not that that’s an awful thing, it’s just not the type of fighter I prefer.

The reason why I said non-anime is that I would like a game like the one I envisioned to have its own mythology and its own characters.

I have nothing against anime, but when something is a licensed product, you pretty much have to know who everyone is in order to fully enjoy it. A couple weeks ago, for example, some of you might remember how much I enjoyed the Fist of the Northstar demo, but found myself reluctant to purchase the finished product because I don’t know who any of the characters are and the game very much takes for granted that you do.

Oh, and since I can’t edit my post, I have to say that story is very important to me when I am playing a fighting game. I need to know WHY everyone is fighting. I need to know what their motivations are and then I need to see what happens to them when they win the tournament. It’s why I absolutely hated Marvel vs. Capcom 2. No endings. I felt like I was wasting my time playing arcade mode.

Aara_Malik_Davoodi

So you changed your name and picture so people stop disregarding your comments as trash?

Yeah, its the second step Im taking in an effort to reinvigorate and rebuild my, er, character and impression I give to others here. In my search for some comment I made a long time ago, I reread quite a few of my comments, and I started to feel bad at the aura some of my comments gave off (hypercritical and inquisitive). I dont think my comments were all trash or worth being disregarded. Though, as someone told me recently, that I also succeed at giving them the impression that I post like “Im an easily excitable 12 year old.” lol. I may not be able to do anything about being excited and enthused, but surely I can try to be less critical and more accepting? Its worth a try.

Aara_Malik_Davoodi

Worth a try? I would say so. If you want people to read your comments seriously, they have to first read your comments. And changing your infos will definitely help in that department.

[The Hunter] Doomrider

I’m with Aoshi, I found some of your posts kinda funny!

But I can understand why some would annoy people. Personally, I think that whatever your comment, it should be spontaneous. You know, if you feel this or that way, that’s what you should say. Maybe you should pay attention to HOW you say it. People will accept your criticism IF you back it up.

What I mean is: while your efforts are commendable, and probably a step in the right direction, where’s the fun in making comments just for the sake of pleasing others? That’s boring.

Anyway, good luck on your task =P

Aoshi00

I find it a bit bittersweet that he’s growing up in front of our very eyes, like something inside him awakened and he literally went thru a transformation, and now he’s Yousuke no more lol.

Like I said, it’s good to be young (I’m like 10 yrs older than him, I’m hitting the gym to reverse slower metabolism now).. I remember I was a noob once when I first got on the internet back in 97 (well we had a little earlier than that, but it was at college we I got broadband), and when you were 17 you have strong opinions on things, I probably looked like a fool to some people as well (probably still do), back then there was this thing called a mailing list lol.

Yea, if one gets too politically correct, you just can’t say anything you want anymore. Of course, it’s just natural one should consider other people’s viewpoints and position since we’re not kids.

(sry for being totally OT)

RupanIII

Haha well put, gents. On the surface it seems like it would really bug me since I grew up on ‘ye olde’ games. But it’s just so over-the-top – not to mention the fact that we’re about the same age – that my first reaction has always been laughter.

Aww don’t pick him apart for it… Him changing his name and avatar might be a sign that he want’s a new start. We should treat him as a new member if that’s what he wants, and if he’s the same as before we shouldn’t treat him any less either.

Excuse me?! Halo Reach? Maybe if we were talking specificially about shooters, but Halo Reach > Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 2? Naruto can easily beat any of those Halo fighters. Plus the Reach has a predictable storyline because it is a prequel, prequels can, in no way be better than their predecessors because of the fact that we already know what the conclusion of the prequels storyline will be and innovation is vastly limited.

SouskeSagara

Firstly you may be excused because Halo reach exceeds Any Naruto game any day. Story line for naruto is predictable as well so that isn’t an argument game play animations and online plays are something worth arguing about but unfortunatly Naruto is a multiplayer game that cannot go online because it is sucks

But this one does have online play. Naruto storyline isnt predictable as it still hasnt ended.

SouskeSagara

Ok… bro first if we play online what is it going to be Naruto vs naruto? have a bunch of naruto heads walk around? and it is predictable… Naruto becomes hokage and the show is over.. They are just stalling the show for people like you to be excited over nothing. If you want a REAL anime watch Full Metal Panic… you will thank me later

ChaosPaladinFayt

Asude from the story, how can you say that the Naruto games are epic, it feels like another bleach game, Seriously, its like the exact same game with the exact same mechanics in the previous game just with a couple more characters added in. They are just using cheap tactics to make more profit, yes, i kno, every company is like that. However, i have not seen a company come up with THIS many installments of the exact same game, but with a couple new characters? Ok, so u like the idea of going online to fight ppl, fine, thats ok…BUT….im sure there is gonna be a time where a character is going to be exploited and very imba, which pretty much breaks the game, since everyone is gonna start maining that one character, and there would be no point in going online again.

Aara_Malik_Davoodi

Multiple possible reasons. Like Ishaan said, the first one didn’t even have a 360 version and most people would get the version closest to the one they’re used to. Also, Japan doesn’t seem to like their 360s as much as other regions. I’m pretty sure the 360 version wasn’t exactly “meant” to sell well in Japan. Here in the USA, though, I’m a proud UNS2 360 buyer; Xbox Live just works better for online gaming

Let’s not get into that debate because there are a lot of people, myself included, who would say the PSN is just as good, for free. Unless you’re talking about cross-game chat, which I will never understand PS3 owners who want that (I even turn off the little text message that tells me who is online…I don’t want to be bothered by people when I’m playing something), the PSN does everything X-box Live does.

hitosura22

but for free lol

Aara_Malik_Davoodi

Well, at least in all of my experiences, games over PSN get more laggy and disconnections than Xbox Live. Perhaps it somehow has to do with every place I’ve ever lived, but that’s just always been the case with myself and all of my acquaintances. It is free, though, so that’s a definite plus

Were you using a wired or Wi-Fi connection? I have never had a problem with lag or disconnects, nor have the majority of my PS3-owning friends, but my cousin who uses Wi-Fi does. All the time. There’s a major storm in his area and we don’t even bother to play with him that night.

I think it’s really just your connection. I mean, I can be downloading stuff on my computer while my roommate uses her laptop and I can play, say, Super Street Fighter IV or BlazBlue or Resistance 2 without any lag problems.

Aara_Malik_Davoodi

No, man, I’ve used the same connection on both and that’s just what happens. I always figured it was a “you get what you pay for” kind of thing, but I guess I’m a minority. That gives Sony more ARP (Aara Respect Points). I may try some different connection settings now to see what the problem is

Code

Both services are pretty much identical in quality when it comes to connection speed and stability from my experience, (I feel like a broken record) but I played Blazblue on both systems til completion, and there was absolutely no noticeable difference between the two systems at all. When it comes to connection speed and stability, your own connection/setup and the game’s servers themselves are going to have the biggest impact over quality, at no point does Microsoft’s magic internet tube boost your connection quality >w<; I think a lot of people tend to make the assumption PSN is marginally worse, because they have a wired 360, and tend to have there PS3 run wireless — I can't say I've tested both systems wireless (although I could test them now) but both on wired connections were identical. When people hope aboard the wireless connections I don’t think they realize much big of a difference that is compared to a wired connection, and how many more things are going to impact there connection quality by doing that.

kupomogli

This right here. Everyone thinks that because with XBL you pay a premium in order to play online it’s got to be better, but it’s not. I even thought the 360 had better online as I played the PS3 wireless as to not need to hook it up wired, but once I tried wired once and the difference in the connection it made, I never played wireless on my PS3 again.

Playing wired on a 360 and PS3, I’ve played GTA4, Street Fighter 4, and Super Street Fighter 4. The online service in my opinion played identical.

Other games I’ve played online on the PS3 that I’ve had no lag 99% of the time; DBZ Raging Blast, Armored Core 4, Armored Core For Answer, Phantasy Star Portable 2(on ad-hoc party with someone stationed in Japan,) Monster Hunter Freedom Unite(ad-hoc party,) Uncharted 2, CoD Modern Warfare, TMNT Turtles in Time(game sucks,) Castle Crashers, this list could go on.

The only thing is that 360 owners will have more people to play against. If you’re playing CoD Modern Warfare does it really matter if you have 5000 online at the time or 10,000? You’re still more than likely going to get in a match with a full group of people.

I’m one who dislikes to pay multiple times for something that I’ve already paid for. Every PC game that has online except for an MMO you can play the game online for free. Why does it have to be any different for a console?

Exactly. As I said in my post below, I have used wired since I first got my PS3 and haven’t had any lag problems. My cousin uses Wi-Fi and his connection is awful. Not to mention, now that I think about it, my drummer, when she got hers used Wi-Fi and the downloads took forever.

thebanditking

Marginally worse? No, but I have both consoles hooked up via wifi and my 360 will consistently download game demos and videos faster then my PS3. With that said though my online playing experience is nearly identical on both, which considering PSN is free and Live is not makes me question its worth. Also I agree with you, I don’t get why everyone (especially PSN users) are so crazy about cross game chat. Essentially its the same thing as calling your friend on the phone and playing a game at the same time, which I was never fond of. I guess on the PSN side its a tit for tat kind of thing, XBL has it so PSN users want it, but personally I could got he next 5 generations without it lol.

Aoshi00

For me it’s not the connectivity issues. Xbox Live Live was better and PSN basically just copied everything they did. There was Live Gold, now PSN Plus. There was game/movie ratings by users on Live, now on PSN. There was Netflix streaming w/o using the disc on Live, now the same on PSN. There have been achievements forever, PSN followed suit w/ trophies. There were gamer pics for Live and now Avatars for PSN. XBLA often has discount and sales for those w/ Gold membership, now PSN has discount and freebies for Plus subscribers. Yes, PSN does everything that Live does now by “following” Live’s model.For non-online issues, I just prefer to install all my games so it would burden the system less, I’m sure Sony would finally let us do full installs on the PS3 like the 360 in the near future.Last by not least, this is personal, I prefer Major Nelson and Hikari-chan to Christina Lee :) (and Avatar to Home virtual selfs)

Yusaku_Matsuda70s

It’s impossible to deny that the PSN copied Live in many aspects, only it was late and still not as smooth or full-featured of an experience. However, it’s easy to forgive flaws when getting a lot of the competition’s paid features that work similarly for free. Shameless, yes, but undeniably attractive. As an unleaded PSN user I also get discounts and occasional freebies.

When I first bought my PS3, I was excited about Home. A 3GB initial install, lengthy load times for each world you visit, the realization that I had to pay for *everything* except walking, hours of wandering around in virtual worlds with mostly nothing to do, and dozens of online idiots hitting on me thinking I’m was a girl later, it was a pretty mediocre disappointment.
I uninstalled that hdd-hog, went back to playing real games.

Aoshi00

Yea, Home was ultra lame. I tried the beta for several hours just wandering around and having inane conversation, then I was like why did I spend 4 hrs on that doing nothing, and just went right back to playing games. I did go on to check out the new hubs to see if there’s anything interesting going on, even the Jpn Home w/ their different hubs, but it’s the same thing, just filled w/ people who have nothing to do and chat (and dance), and the Home avatars really creep me out, they’re not cute like Miis or the 360 ones, paying to decorate your virtual apartment is also silly. Also when they delayed launching Home, I had a feeling it was going to turn out bad, almost no one cared at that point anymore. I guess some would find it interesting, I’m guessing it’s mostly teenagers loitering (I mean hitting on people they thought were chicks lol), but ultimately pointless when you could be spending time playing quality games.I agree, can’t complain about playing online for free, I only play online occasionally because I’m not big on fighters or shooters. The main reason why I paid for gold was to stream netflix and get XBLA titles for less, and I found out PS3 and Wii finally ditch the disc a week ago so I might stream netflix w/ my PS3 more from now on. I usually get the 12-month Live on sale for around $30-$36, so I figure ~$3/month on average really isn’t that bad w/ all the good services (I really like the videos on Xbox Live, like Major Nelson, or Hikari & Uchizawa on Jpn Live, I thought they put a lot of effort demoing new games and interviewing developers), of course the MSRP was $50 and now $60. I’m not big on shooters like CoD or Medal of Honor and such, if I am though, 360’s controller just feels better, I really dig the stick w/ more resistance. I just think the Gold subscription fee is justified for the hard work they put in, and that’s why PSN is having Plus now, subscribers can try out demoes sooner etc, but if Sony started charging everyone for online play like Live, people might flip out.

Code

Yeah, Home was instantly gross for me, and a strong case of do-not-want. Honestly I’m surprised Sony hasn’t tried at least making the experience more interesting, but at this point it just feels like a run off project with no defined end and a waste of resources. Honestly I almost consider Home a bit of an insult because it’s Sony’s interpretation of it’s audience, which is apparently a bunch of bland hipsters with nothing to do. Nothing about it says gaming/gamer to me. I do think Avatars on 360 work are visually 200% more appealing, it’s stylish, cute, and cartoonish, without feeling pseudo like Sony’s attempt. My only problem is Microsoft really makes a cash grab on clothes and stuff for your avatar. I’m going on my first full year with a 360, and not once did they never give me any freebie clothes options, I thought variety was the spice of life omo; My avatar has had a Denmark football shirt (I think of the top of my head) for most of this year, because I use it because I don’t have any other red shirt options (other then two more football shirts) how is that expressing myself T_T’ rar, although I did get a Charlie Brown shirt from Snoopy Flying Aces (which is a DAMN good game =w=) which pleased me. But I just don’t know if I’m ready to lay down $2 for a virtual shirt for my character — MAYBE if they had a Tao costume like those fun SSF4 costumes — but for run of the mill stuff, it wouldn’t kill Microsoft to give gold members a few free virtual pieces of clothing a month >O>!

thebanditking

I do the exact same thing, though I wonder if those “deals” on Live subscription card will go away now that MS pulled all their XBLA stuff from Amazon in favor of GameStop (which I refuse to shop at). I always hit Amazon around September (though my sub always lapses) and pick up a 12mo card for $36. I will admit I will not pay $60 for Live its just not worth it.
Its not just that people would flip out, whatever Sony spends on maintenance and upkeep for PSN is easily returned by advertising and download fees the publishers are charged for the content they put up. Its another reason I like PSN, the business model is based on publishers footing the bill so that we can have access to buy from them, takes money to make money; and when that’s not at the expense of the consumer its a great thing. Besides having a service identical to Live (almost) feature for feature and getting to say its “FREE” versus your competitions $60 a year is worth the incurred price of operation, especially on the retail sales front.

Yusaku_Matsuda70s

Dood, seriously, with what they charge for virtual furniture, I could also use that money to buy the same thing, except it’d be, you know, REAL. What a waste of hard cash. Now if there was a virtual economy as well I might not mind. But anyway, as far as I know, Home is still in Beta. O_O

Yea I don’t pvp online either. That’s one of the reasons I got a PS3. If you like the Xbox personalities there’s nothing wrong with a bit of investment each month when you can afford it. But I’d totally flip like you said if they started charging me for basic PSN.

Code

Yeah, 100% agreed, Sony has definitely has taken a lot of direction from Live, there’s not really much reason not to, as the service is excellent and really did set a bar for online in consoles this generation. Although I have to give Sony credit on Achievement/Trophies, I do think Trophy’s fix a fundamental issue with achievements which is, achievement without set point values indirectly put the focus on who can accumulate the most points, rather then putting the focus on overall completion. Which is why generally I don’t sweat gamerscore, playing a game and tackling it’s tough challenges says more then snatching a quick 500pts. for under your tag. YES, that is definitely my biggest gripe with Sony is universal installs, god, that is PS3’s biggest short coming in my books, as well as it’s scoreboards just can’t even hold a candle to live. Good god, I love Live’s scoreboards there great and free, and it’s hard not to enjoy seeing how all your friends do >w<;Although I’m not crazy over paying for Live, I do kind of take it as a “price of admission” so-to-speak for the overall experience which has been positive. In my opinion a weak spot is though is, considering your paying for the experience, they could have the decency to give you the option to remove some advertisements from the dashboard.

My overall point above wasn’t about knocking Live, but rather I think there’s a big misconception about what your actually getting with Live, and why people seem to feel it’s online experience is faster/more stable.

Aoshi00

The achievement scores do make it more unnecessarily competitive sometimes (in line w/ the leaderboards and everything), but I just realize how trophies tally now, your % goes up and once it reaches 100% it reaches another lvl, like mine’s just 6 (almost 7) and yours is 12. I never paid attention to what those numbers mean. Well, I guess scores are only important as how each person sees them. I see people have like over 50,000 achievement, I’m like does that guy need to work? I do like the number score because it’s a little more intuitive, if I just got 30 or 40 points I know I actually overcame a difficult challenge (I know trophies have bronze, silver, gold, and the unattainable platinum as well), the ratio is easier for one to gauge the difficulty of a task. But say for Lords of Shadow on PS3, getting a trophy after finishing a chapter goes up only 1% it felt so minuscule I’m like that’s it!?. I just like achievement’s pop sound more than the trophy ding, it feels more exhilarating :) And I can’t help but feel achievements give me more of a sense of accomplishment than trophies. As for HDD installs, when the original only had 60Gb back then, some games forced you to do partial installs eating up precious space. Now I have like 500Gb and yearning for full installs and they’re not giving it to me lol.Those 1sec ads aren’t that intrusive I guess, I like getting free themes from sprint and such lol.

Code

Yep! Trophies do tally up too, although I still think there is a heavier focus placed on completion. They don’t award individual challenge/experiences anything outside set values which helps keep things I think more in check too, not saying you can’t have an easy gold or a hard bronze, but when you compare it to a hard 20pts. verses an easy 100pts. and how that impacts your face number on your gamerscore/card it becomes more obvious the weak spot in the system, which has lead players making the grab for easy points.Although god I love both the achievement pop, and trophy bing T_T;; I question how many studies must have been done, to lead to picking those sounds x_xBut it’s kind of like anything, a person has preferences and will create there own mental rules that they play by, to me trophies I guess are more in tune with my ideals, even with my achievements I treat them the same >ww<' But yeah that's just how I feel on the topic, I still like both as it adds some extra replay value, and often unique challenges.rar, installs! Reminds me of MGS4, with those big beefy forced installs omo; Seriously 360 beats PS3 out so badly in the respect of installing discs, it’s not even funny >w<' I don't have a big HDD on my PS3, but man if I have the option to install I'd do it every time. Yeah, agreed the ads aren’t really that intrusive (one flick up and there gone after all >w<;) you get use to them, but I can't help but feel it takes a little bit away of the personal atmosphere on the system. I just think the option would be nice, even though I'd definitely admit I've got some nice deals thanks to them.

I’ve actually been in competition with a few of my friends over our trophy level.

Okay, well, not exactly competition, as I’m level 13 and the highest of my friends/family is level 8, but my other cousin is not determined to start Platinuming games, because it bothers him how much higher than him I am.

thebanditking

If there is one thing I would love to change about Live (outside of half the people who use it, lol) would be those terrible ads. I mean come on MS I pay 49.99 (now $60) to look at ads for Tide, McDonalds and Axe? Its like I am being punished for having my console connected to their service. I don’t mind game ads, not one bit in fact I kind of like them as I still think its cool to see game commercials on TV so I don’t mind them on my console but these non gaming ads need to go elsewhere, go flood the Black Berry and iPhone users with useless ads like that.

Aoshi00

I guess the ads are a bit lame, but I was never bothered by them at all, I find myself using using those car themes or Sports illustrated ones, the car ones are especially cool, I just snatch whatever free stuffs there is.. One time I switched my gamer pic and didn’t change it back, my friend saw me as a playmate lol. Gotta admit they’re pretty effective too, one time I put up the Mickey D’s theme and then it gives me the urge to get some chicken nuggets. Or the free movie themes or gamer pics, they remind me of when a movie is coming out (like Scott Pilgrim,Kick Ass, or Daybreakers), I really don’t mind them at all. The ones in front of the video is lame, but it’s only 1 sec and really isn’t that intrusive. or the Samsung ads, for some reasons I just grab everything..

thebanditking

I’m not familiar with XBL Japan, so I can’t speak for Hikari-chan. That being said I will never understand how people can actually like Major Nelson. That guy reminds me of a nagging used car sales man from commercials on TV “This Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! Come on down to F.C Kerbeck for used Cadillacs that look, run and EVEN smell like NEW!!” lol.

To me he always comes off as cheesy, always dropping names, dates, and prices like a salesman. Where as the PSN people (Veronica Belmont, Christina Lee) rarely seem to present that kind of info, its more like they give you the info and you can check it out if you want, which I find less annoying. I feel the same way about the PS execs, I like Jack Tretton and Kaz Hirai and Shuhei Yoshida, while I can’t stand Don Mattrick, Aaron Greenburg (ugh hate that guy). Also Kudo Tsunoda is like a rave club reject compared to Dr. Richard Marks. Though it might be my nostalgia, as I am a PS Underground subscriber from way back. Though I totally agree about the XBL avatars vs Home (which I have never used).

I agree that Sony has copied the heck out of every feature that Live has with one (huge) exception, they do it for free. Though 70% of what made 360 so successful MS copied from Sony’s PS2 business model (Heck even the boxes are the same) the other 30% being paying for exclusives and Live. Half of what makes Live so great is not worth mentioning if your not paying for Gold. While if you don’t pay for PS+ you get 90% of the experience and just miss out on some early access betas and discounts. I buy almost everything on PSN also because of its less restrictive DRM policy.

I also find it hilarious that MS is “changing” XBL Silver to XBL Free, so that it can “sound like” its on par with what Sony is offering.

Aoshi00

You haven’t watched the Inside Xbox videos on Jpn Live!? You’ve gotta, chop chop, get! Hikari-chan is so cute (hot face and bod don’t hurt), though a bit crazy when the gaming sessions get scary or overwhelming like Left 4 Dead, well she is 18 (she was 17 when she signed on and had her b-day a while ago, aww…)

I guess Major Nelson is a salesman, but he’s useful for me when I actually need to find out info on what to buy, also he’s always a good sport to do this silly skit. During Tokyo Game Show, Major Nelson raced Hikari-chan and lost in Kinect Sports lol.

I actually love Veronica Belmont too, but she’s only on Qore so you kind of have to pay to watch her. It’s funny in the latest episode she said LoS was important to her because Gabriel is her ancestor lol. I almost used her theme on the XMB but she looks kind of funny in that. The higher-ups of course are all annoying like Reggie, Tretton w/ his 15-yr cycle, it’s kind of funny to see Don Mattrick flutter during the last E3 because 360 didn’t have that big of a line-up other than casual Kinect games and he was bribing all the press w/ a free slim. Christina Lee though, I’m not sure if she knows her gaming or just reads off the script, she’s just not much fun to listen to compared to Veronica, and it’s probably not right for me to sound superficial, her body is not that attractive..I just like all the videos on Inside Xbox though. While Uchizawa (a game writer, but sucky gamer), and Hikari-chan, a casual gamer, they actually play the games so it’s very well thought out and the atmosphere is friendly, they do interviews w/ developers (both Jpn and Western) almost every week too. On the US side, I like the editors from Xbox magazine or Jessica Chobot from IGN (though I don’t care for IGN) teaching people how to net easy and difficult achievements, it looks like they’re true gamers (not sure about Chobot, but she sounds hot) and they actually play games just like we do, and those videos are free too.Kudo Tsunoda’s just so hyper, but thankfully we don’t need to see that much of him, and what’s the deal w/ that guy, it’s like his name is Japanese. For the Wii videos, especially the Jpn ones, I can’t stand the celebrity videos, they look really fake.. and these perfect family setup of course (w/ Caucasian looking Jpn kids mostly lol, either mixed or w/ make-up)Other than that, Kevin Butler rules. oh, and recently they have some stupid Jpn Kinect launch “No Controllers!?” ads, there are two girls from AKB48, and the videos where you have Jpn voice overs Western scientists and such, I thought those are hilarious,

I hate the Microsoft spokespeople as much as I hated Ken Kutaragi. Even more so, when it comes to Major Nelson, Aaron Greenberg, and that guy who looks like he spends most of his time at peep boothes, Tsunoda.

Jack Tretton comes off as really nice and presentable and I love Christina Lee.

LOL nothing beats the Playstation Pulse with Christina Lee. I wish Ninty and Microsoft had some sort of show that replicates what Sony does. It gets me interested in both movies and games that I otherwise would not have ever looked up any information about.

Aoshi00

Inside Xbox (w/ staff introducing new games, interviewing developers, and teaching people net achievements) started long ago before Pulse, Pulse was actually yet another thing that PSN copied Live in the long list of things. I like Veronica Belmont much more though, she seems more of a gamer to me, but too bad Qore videos are not free (other than a handful). Inside Xbox Jpn does the same thing too, and Hikari-chan is the reason I watch their videos every other day w/o fail lol, she’s so funny and nuts (when she plays scary games, she’s not good at shooters but she was good in RDR), Uchizawa just sucks at Vanquish lol.

thebanditking

Nintendo? Pfft, your lucky they even do the half *** show they have, let alone actually getting some genuinely gaming enthused people to represent their products. They have been that way since the 90’s, they use to send me VHS tapes in the mail with this obnoxious guy in them. I remember this one episode where he was talking about Jet Force Gemini, and he leans into the camera and says in a bad porno voice “Well it is from……Rare…” after watching the extremely dry trailer he concluded that segment by saying “I guess that’s why they call it a……..Teeeaser”. Though, I still don’t know if that was half as bad as those awful Nintendo Week vids, those things insult my intelligence level.

Aoshi00

I wasn’t talking about the higher-ups though, they’re all salespeople w/ shareholders on their back, they’re just the front. But Major, I find him fun because he’s like an excited cars salesman like Banditking said (everything has to GO! but I find his info useful nonetheless), and he would do these stupid skits, and answers people’s questions on msg boards too (though it could be his assistants, you never know). The Xbox mag editors or IGN’s Jessica Chobot on Inside Xbox (it’s free for everyone), I find their achievement information a lot of fun, more interesting than reading dry FAQs. I have to say I heart Veronica Belmont, would be nice if Qore is free, at least for Plus subscribers (which I signed on), that would make the yearly fee totally worth it. Christina just doesn’t do it for me at all, she seems totally phony and reads off the teleprompter (on the superficial side, her legs look kind of weird, accentuated by her high heels, sry). Major does repeated takes too, but sometimes they show us the outtakes which is pretty funny. Overall I find Live to be a much more close knit community.

thebanditking

I can’t really explain it, I just get a sense that Sony and their people actually care about gaming and the industry (its a larger part of their business). Whereas everyone at MS (except J Allard while he was there) seems kind of sleazy in comparison, especially Don Mattrick that guy just screams dirty backdoor dealing, lol. The Xbox group, reminds me of a jealous rich guy who always scoffs at others accomplishments because he can easily buy everything they have, but will never receive the recognition they do because he doesn’t put any passion into it, and thus continues to act high and mighty while still underachieving despite his wealth.

I am relieved that others seem to agree with me about Tsunoda though, guy clearly has some “I wish I was Kanye West” issues, lol.

lostinblue

To be honest, Tretton comes through to me as one of the biggest douches in the industry; and he lives in his own world too.

Ken Kutaragi was more entertaining. As for Microsoft’s spokespeople, they’re okay, I guess, they pick their fights and are usually smart enough to skip some, unlike “standard” Sony PR who usually barges into buildings on fire only to get burned. (that said, Sony PR has gotten better, it couldn’t get worse than it was)

And I’m sure Reggie and Cammy were so much better. They reminded me of the douches who ran my old high school. I want to kick Reggie whenever I see his giant elephant man face.

Aoshi00

Not to mention the long line of Ultimate Ninja (Narutimate in Jpn) games were on the PS2, so people just stick w/ the PS3 ver I guess. I tried both the PS3 and 360 demos, still prefer the 360 controller for it. I really can’t wait to get this game either, the boss fights look epic.

Aara_Malik_Davoodi

Yeah, I like the 360 controller, too. Another reason I got it for 360. There’s one boss battle in particular that has a really epic moment that I won’t spoil, and it’s not even during the actual fight.

Aoshi00

Cool, I wonder where the game would end, most likely the end of Pain right? I wish I could’ve picked this up on day 1 since I was quite impressed and want to support CC2’s amazing work, alas I was spoiled by almost every new release having $20 coupon thee days, so I’m kind of used to getting new games for “$40” now. Plus Blk Friday’s coming soon, hopefully they would have this in the $40 range then I would snatch it. I like Naruto, but not as much as I used to.

In looking back, the game leaves so much of the plot open, lol. Im amazed with the people who have never read or saw Naruto Shippuden who picked up this game. The ending, though it ends the arc decently (with diversions from the manga), there are so many questions left unanswered. Its is an excellent game for the price, and definitely pick it up when you have the chance.

Aoshi00

The end of Pain still covers a lot of ground, I guess it’s natural since the canon anime just ended there as well.The only thing I was a little disappointed (at the time) was Kishimoto didn’t pull a Zeta Gundam, where most important chars except a few were actually dead in the end. Well, I guess Jiraiya did bit the dust, killing off Kakashi and Tsunade would be a bit overkilled. And this is shounen after all and Jump still needs to milk it for a while. For a minute, I thought he really was brave enough to pull a Tomino, but I guess that just wouldn’t be very Naruto-esque. I remember I was shocked when I watched Zeta Gundam back then, I still think that’s one of the best Gundam series ever.I will definitely pick this up later on, because I like the changes they made since the first UNS (I wish I could’ve stuck w/ that game long enough to experience the One tail or Sannin boss fights). BTW, did you find the game to be hard? How long did it take you to finish it, and how are the trophies, interesting?

I just hope Storm 3 starts off with the Pain arc. They can do it its full justive by actually including, *every* single fight during the arc, as well as carrying about some of the more intricate details. The game gave it a great abridged version that was satisfactory but, it left me craving for more. Oh well, starting at Pain or after Pain for Storm 3 will allow for the introduction of what I count, at least 12, new characters to the playlist (Danzo, each of the new Kage’s and their bodyguards).

Im glad Kishimoto minimized the deaths (or reverted on some), Im too emotionally invested in all the characters because we got to know most of them so well for so many chapters/episodes.

I think Gundam, in my experiences seem to kill off way too many characters. Never have I cried so much in a ending 5 episodes than in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Season 1. I love the series, but that was just overkill. My friends tell me that characters dying in Gundam is quite common. I have to find other Gundam series to watch though.

I thought It was actually a pretty cheap move on Kishi’s part to not keep them dead. I thought it was sad that Kakashi died, but it was totally unpredictable and actually made me concerned for the other characters( Who haven’t had ANY (save for Shikamaru&Hinata a little) character development since the chunin exams. Not to try to be rude, but where did you get to know them so well? Because most of the development from anyone not in Team 7 has been pretty much dead.

Aoshi00

Like Mark Shaver said, I felt it was a total copout too. I thought Kishimoto was actually man enough to destroy Konoha, kill off Kakashi and Tsunade, they made such an impact but then everything just ended up swell, Kakashi didn’t follow the light to the tunnel, healed by Tsunade’s slugs, and Konoha was rebuilt conveniently, by, of course, Yamato’s handy woodwork. I was totally expecting a lot of casualties because Kishi was saying Naruto was at near end. No other Gundam had the entire cast wiped out though, people were dying left and right in the last several eps and the main char went into a comatose at the end, it was very dark. I thought Kakashi’s death was real because the Akatsuki fights were pretty dark, first Azuma, Jiraiya. So I felt a little cheated. Wonder how Naruto’s going to be wrapped up, and when.. it ran for 11 yrs now, so surpassing DragonBall’s 10 yrs.

Well I guess after rewatching the first part to Naruto, everything but the first arc, about 8 times through, I felt like I knew those characters inside out. Those near 100 episodes of filler was good in having the focus shift to the other teams and Naruto. I think that is why it seemed like a few of the psuedo deaths like Hinata was sad to me.

I hope he remedies the issue with the others teams getting limited focus soon and actually brings them to the forefront in the action now that that kage summit has winded down. He has an excellent cast created, so why not utilized everyone?

I honestly didnt see Asuma’s death coming. It was kind of sad since he impregnated Kurenai and then off and dies, and thats the second person in the Saratobi line…Konohamaru better not die next!

Aara_Malik_Davoodi

Well, like Tsuna said, the main story mode ends with Pain, but there is an epilogue featuring Sasuke and a certain Tailed Beast. And yeah, I love what Amazon is doing. I actually got the game on release date for thirty bucks.

To answer your other questions, the game wasn’t very difficult, but I played the hell out of the first one so I know the ins and outs of the game. There are five different difficulty settings though, so if it’s too hard or too easy, you can change it. It took me I want to say over 10 hours to beat the story mode. And to get every Achievement/Trophy took me 27 hours (although to get one trophy you need to play for 30 hours, so that was my last one). The hardest trophy, though, requires you to get 50 wins online. It wasn’t bad at first, but as more people got the game, the population of cheap-ass spammers and people who disconnect before losing grew significantly. I can honestly say I didn’t go a single match as one of the infamous spam characters (itachi, deidara, minato, sage naruto, even normal naruto to an extent, taka sasuke, killer bee…) and still managed to get 50 wins. But like I said, at this point in time, it’ll probably be harder since everyone knows who’s really cheap now.

Aoshi00

Thanks. I’ve played very little the first UNS and UNS2’s demo fighting Kakashi wasn’t that easy (I died the first time but kept trying and won). Usually I just like to get the ones from the basic story playthru and maybe by achieving certain feats or beating a boss w/in certain time limit. I don’t play enough online matches to get those straight wins achievement. Usually if the achievement is tied to difficulty setting, like beating the game on easy, normal, or hard, I choose normal to not feel like a noob even if it’s challenging, hard is usually to hard for me like Bayonetta.

[The Hunter] Doomrider

About the epilogue… It’s called Fragment. Could that mean that it’s a fragment of a battle we’ll still see in Storm 3? A full fledged boss battle, I mean. I was hoping for another boss battle, but it was just a normal fight… A bit disappointing.

Reagrding the online, I already knew Minato’s entire moveset long before I unlocked him. That and every possible type of Rasengan. I also fought someone who disconnected before losing the battle. Only once, though. Anyway, I won’t be touching Ranked Match again.

But I still managed to get the 50 wins too. Thanks Kisame <3

Aara_Malik_Davoodi

@Doomrider Hm, I never thought about the title of the Epilogue before. That would be really cool if the opening of Storm 3 is that battle. It’s true, it wasn’t a boss battle, but that awakening form was certainly not easy. Also, while on the subject of Storm 3. I hope they wait to see if Naruto is going to end in a few years and, if so, just wait for the ending and make one final game. I’d hate if they just keep cranking out these games and it takes 5 or 6 to tell the story.

Dude, Kisama pwns so much but not a lot of people use him, probably because his Ult is an AOE thing and I never saw more than a few who would use AOE characters of if they did, could ever hit with their Ult. But actually, it’s not all that difficult if you know what to do. I was a Kirin Sasuke man myself after I unlocked him. Before that I got up to like 20 or 25 wins as Might Guy. Dynamic Entry always caught people off guard

[The Hunter] Doomrider

I hope that’s the case, I saw a few clips of the battle (in the anime) on Youtube and it was really cool, in my opinion. It would also explain the title of the epilogue.

And I agree with you, I hope they are able to make one final game (if the manga ends in a couple of years…), and make it even more memorable. I really wouldn’t mind if CC2 just scrapped the online, and added more bosses. They’re incredibly satisfying. But that’s just me being selfish.

Oh yes, Kisame rocks. I relied heavily on support to land the Ultimate Jutsu. When I wanted to use it, I would dash towards the enemy, try to combo, use Hidan (I used Hidan and Kakuzu as support), and if his combo hit, the UJ would normally hit too. I tried to use all of his moveset (not that there are lots of moves anyway =P) to keep things fresh and interesting.

He’s an enjoyable character, and I love the way he talks. So polite, but always with that sarcastic tone.

I can’t really comment on how other characters play, as I haven’t tried most of them yet, but I will do so in Free Battle. Kirin looks really awesome though.

And yeah, I was caught off guard many times by Dynamic Entry =P

godmars

Considering the 360’s install base why is this considered a newsworthy story?

Why would even that be news? This seems more like a game that would appeal to PS3 owners over 360 owners, even in North America. I mean, it’s not like other games in the West don’t sell more on PS3. Super Street Fighter IV, both Blazblue games, Tekken 6, Final Fantasy XIII, etc… It’s not Call of Duty, where it would be HUGE news if the PS3 version sold more (here’s a hint: it won’t).

godmars

Except we’re talking about Japan, where the only reason the Xbox 360 is selling better than the Xbox1 did over there, is that MS insist on trying to sell them. the only actual reason this is “news” is that there are no official US/Western numbers in.

Great to see that this epic game is doing extremely well, especially on its first week! Over a few more weeks, probably after 6 weeks. Storm 2 should have greatly surpassed Storm 1’s 86,000 something sales by a decent mile. Especially when taking in account of Europe’s sales and North America’s sales.

I’m really surprised that everyone thinks this is good sales for PS3 version. 63,675 in it’s first week means next week it may be 45,000. With Lifetimes in Japan hitting 250,000 to 300,000 if it’s lucky. You think being the first Shippuden PS3 Online Naruto game. It would have hit 100,000 in it’s first week. I understand the market is different over their but still. Sengoku Basara for PS3 in Japan sold 243,000 in it’s first week. The Wii version sold 50,000. That’s a game with no online at all. It just seems to me they really don’t care for the franchise anymore.

Ereek

Not all games need to sell a huge amount of copies to be considered “successful.” People are so used to seeing the big numbers of popular series that it’s easy to forget that.

3D Dot Game heroes is an excellent example. That sold something like 125,000 copies. Sure, that may not seem like a lot if you compare it to the big names, but when you look at the expectations that’s absolutely huge.

We don’t know what Bamco’s expectations were here, but if the first one sold enough to warrant a sequel, and this one is doing better than the first, put two and two together.

I think Worldwide, this Naruto game will have higher sales than Sengoku Basara PS3. If the saiyanislands figures are to be believed, than Storm 2 on the PS3 has already hit near 200K units worldwide. I do not think Sengoku Basara PS3 will be taking off that well here in the US nor in Europe, due to that genre of game having experience a bit of fatigue as of late. Capcom marketing may have bolstered it or the appeal of the Wii. But, like Ereek says, if Namco Bandai and CC2 thought 80K was enough units to justify making this sequel, then Im quite sure that potentially, this game has met and/or exceeded their sales estimates…worldwide.

thebanditking

I think they are good opening week numbers for a series that is past what this game covers story wise. I mean how long has Naruto been going in Japan? Most players already know everything this is covering story wise. Not to mention how obsessed Japan has become with portable games. Still those 360 numbers are terrible, I mean absolutely awful; this had better even out for over seas sales or the 360 version would have not been worth the cost to port it.

john411

How is this surprising? The sequel to an original game that never was released on the 360. People would be hesitant to buy a sequel because they don’t know the original.

Not to mention afaik no Naruto games were ever released on the 360 in Japan until, so there was never a fanbase for it to begin with.

We should all know that the main reason this version is multiplatform is because of the crazy sales the 360 version will do in the west.

shion16

free online is a powerfull factorIm Shion16 and my fav character is chiyo-baba xP

by the way. does this naruto have arcade mode? is a pretty good thing to do after beating the game, that was something needed for the 1st one, after doing the story, only free battles could be entertaining…. but even in hardest difficulty it was already “meh”

Aara_Malik_Davoodi

What do you mean by arcade mode? There is story mode, there is online, and there is a free battle mode, where 1p vs 2p, 1p vs comp, and comp vs comp. I think I know what you mean, though. After a while, even on the hardest setting, you can beat any character in free battle

Well, if you’ve played other fighting games you may know, arcade is like fighting a number of enemies non-stop, and most of the times, your life heals a little after every battle or won’t heal at all, those kind of stuff are pretty fun after betaing the main stuff of a fighting game. *sigh* so it doesnt have?… Darn, i hope the is a lot of extra stuff to do in story mode

Just outselling the PS2 and the PSPGo, but behind EVERYTHING else. It’s not even in the same league of sales as the PS3 or Wii in Japan. It’s not even like comparing NA PS3/360/Wii sales. It does that poorly over there.

cmurph666

If I lived in Japan, liked Naruto and owned a 360, I would’ve been one of those 3,000.

The 360 install base is super small in Japan and sales are typically very low. Moreover I’ve noticed that the majority of games that sell well on the system tend to be hardcore otaku style games (Idolmaster, shooters on XBLA) rather than any kind of mainstream titles, or titles based on mainstream anime like Naruto.

Video game stories from other sites on the web. These links leave Siliconera.